Give me Five!! (Very good whites wines from Valencia)

(Part I Whites Wines) 

The Valencian wineries have made a huge effort improving their wines in recent years. And all has been done with very little public support when compared with the financial aid obtained by their counterparts in other areas of Spain like Navarra, Madrid, La Rioja or Ribera del Duero. 

But there are excellent products worth tasting. Unfortunately, most of the wineries are too small to make an effective advertising strategy which is outside their possibilities. And the D.O have been not very effective. This lack of public attention and ineffiency makes wines form Valencia (Alicante, Castellón and Valencia) little known. Or less than they ought. 

This situation has a very positive side. Apart from a few exceptions, their prices are low for the quality they offer. Therefore, a high proportion of the wines produced here have quality and value. Important advantages to taste them if you find some in the wine list of a restaurant or if you are visiting the region. Here, then, are some of my recommendations (September 2012). 

Essens 2011 - Bodegas Essens. Vino Blanco DO Alicante. (10 €). My main surprise in whites, perhaps because I was unaware about the possibility of finding a so competitive chardonnay (in international terms) among the Wines produced in the hinterland of Alicante. An extraordinary wine, light but with plenty of flavor.  Fermented and aged for two months in French oak barrels, the result is, as I have just said, a light white, with a very bright color, and an integrated acidity, with fine touches of wood and a grassy spot.

Los Almendros 2008 Bodegas El Angosto (9 €). A second excellent white. A combination of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling with remarkable similarities to the Bordeaux Pessac Leognan although it still has a long way to go. From what I've seen in stores, however, the vintage now in the market is the 2009, which I have not tasted and whose valuation could be a litlle different. But I am pretty sure it’s a good choice. Wines change from one vintage to the other, but no so much.

Älvarez Nolting 2009 Chardonnay. Alvarez Nolting (90% Chardonnay and 10% sauvignon). (15 €). I am totally unable to identify those "fragrant herbs" found by a famous Spanish Wine Critic in this wine but I like it very much. I dislike the chardonnays with excess lemon flavor and this one is not the case. The wine has a low alcohol content, (in comparative terms) but good persistence and complexity. From the same winery, I sure bet in Valencia reds is Alvarez Nölting 2006, a blend between cabernet sauvignon and tempranillo, light and smooth but also with a good persistence. 

Mestizaje Blanco 2011 Bodegas Mustiguillo (10 €) Probably the one of the five I am recommending here easier to find in restaurants  but no less attractive. It’s a bled of Merseguera  (a Spanish variety widely grown in Alicante), Viognier and Malvasía (pinot gris in some areas of Europe Jancis Robinson dixit). The result is less persistent than the previos mentioned but very fresh wine easy to drink. Has a sweet spot but as all the five is a dry wine (I dont like the fruity whites).

Musikanto 2011.Viñedos Culturales (9,50 €). A quite unique wine, completely different from any other white. Fermented, as some Italian wines, in amphorae (Like  de ones produced by Josko Gravner) but made with a variety used infrequently for whites (garnacha peluda). Has no possible comparison and I am unable to describe it. Perhaps as surprinsing as the Pinot Grigio of the Radikon winery in Italy. I strongly recommend to taste it at least once (if you find it in a restaurant or in a Wineshoop which it's not easy given the small amount of botlles available). In my view, it’s another superb  result of this winery that produces some of the best red wines in the region. 

But about the more than good red winess we have in Valencia I will write next time.